A good part of Geert Lovink’s latest book ‘Social Media Abyss’ is dedicated to both the critique and the quest for alternatives. From fake news to #deletefakebook, social media discontent is growing. All we hear about lately is the bankrupt hegemony of Mark Zuckerberg. However, few draw consequences out of the Cambridge Analytica revelations. Breaking up is hard to do. Evidence of whisleblowers is not enough. With Slavoj Zizek we can say that we know social media is evil, but continue to use it. This is age of false conciousness 2.0. It’s time to question (ourselves). How should alternative network architectures look like? Should our strategy be radical decentralization or should we still aim at scaling up in order to reach a critical mass? What’s the right mixture of digital despair, radical critique and utopian promises? How do you like to design the social?

Geert Lovink, the founding director of the Institute of Network Cultures, is visiting the department of Communication and Design on April 23rd and April 24th. Together with Andreas Treske Geert Lovink will have a presentation and discussion on the evening of April 24th at 19:00 at Ka Atölye in Kavaklidere, Güneş Sokak 17. The event is open to public.